If you are a small farmer in a developing country, and there is a big agricultural land investment deal going down in your neighbourhood, you could become part of it and make money in several ways, said a new UN-backed study.
We call on others in the US to demand an end to the global land grab and commit to participating in a global campaign against land grabs
TIAA-CREF owns agricultural land in the US, Australia, Brazil and central and Eastern Europe, most of which is leased out.
Pension funds are deepening their commitment to farmland, upping investments by billions of dollars and moving to active strategies, as a hedge against potential inflation and to diversifty from riskier investments.
Leading Gulf economist Dr Eckart Woertz says plans by GCC states to buy farmland in Asian and African countries were not materialising despite announcements to the contrary.
Study says creation of a farm fund is crucial for the success of Arab agricultural projects aimed at achieving self-sufficiency since most fertile countries in the region lack sufficient investments.
"We support continued efforts to develop principles for investment in the agricultural sector undertaken by the World Bank, regional development banks, FAO, UNCTAD, and IFAD," say G8 heads of state.
Dr S. Ayyappan, Director-General of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), calls on Indians to rent farmland in Ethiopia to produce pulses for export to India.
The Addis government shows scant regard for the potential local impact of massive Indian investment in floriculture and biofuels.
Evidence suggests a marked disparity in the benefits received by those involved in and affected by these transnational land acquisitions, particularly for those originally dwelling on the land.
New Zealand's state-owned farm company Landcorp dismisses as conspiracy theory the notion that its bid for the Crafar farms is political interference
The government of Brazil is studying the possibility of prohibiting the purchase of land by foreigners. A discussion with the journalist who broke the news, Mauro Zanatto.
